Adjustable bearing for wheels.



Nd. 712,588. Patented Nov. 4,1902.

.1. A. PLDPPE R.

ADJUSTABLE BEARING FOR WHEELS.

(Application filed Mar. 22, 1902.)

(No Model.)

' rluulnlullliiiiiiim ummnumluu plied to one of the wheels.

I UNITE STATE PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. PLOPPER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PLANO MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

ADJUSTABLE BEARING FOR WHEELS.

SFEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent no. 712,588, dated November 4, 1902.

Application filed March 22, 1.902. Serial No. 99,451. (No model.)

o new and useful improvement in bearings for wheels for sprocket-chains, belts, &c., whereby one of a pair of such wheels may be moved to and from the other to take up or regulate the slack in the chain or belt and is designed '15 to produce a device of the class described which shall be simple in its construction and efficientin operation and which can be quickly adjusted and secured in any desired position.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto 20 a sheet of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of pulleywheels and a chain having my invention ap- Fig. 2 is a sec: tional View thereof, on an enlarged scale, on the line A A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same in section on the line B B of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of a clamping-ring employed in connection therewith, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the bearing-sleeve detached.

The sprocket-wheels a. and b are shown as mounted adjacent to the plate 0 and as connected by the chain (1. The bearing of the wheel I) may be of any ordinary construction, as my invention is shown only as applied to the sprocketwheel a. The bearing member 6 preferably takes the form of a sleeve, the

0 upper outer surface of which serves as the actual bearing for the wheel a. A shoulder f may be employed, upon which the bottom of the wheel-hub rests. Beneath the hearing proper is a spiral cam-flange g, which is formed with a shoulder h at its inner end and with a shoulder j at its outer end, the two shoulders cooperating with the lug 75 on the base-piece Zservin g to limit the movement of the bearing-sleeve. This base-piece Zpref- 5o erably takes the form of a disk, which is screwed or otherwise secured upon the plate 0 and is provided with the slot m, which is elongated in the direction of the chain, so that as the sleeve c is turned about its axis the spiral outer edge of the flange g, cooperating with the inner edge of the lug It, will .cause'the bearing to be shifted along the slot with the squared lower portion 3. The portion tot the sleeve e between the flange 9 and the lowermost portion 13 is circular in outline and passes down through the slot min the base-ring and through a correspondinglyshaped slot it, formed in the plate 0. The head of the bolt n cooperates with the under surface of the clamping-ring r, and the nut 41 on the end thereof cooperates through the washer to with the top of the sleeve e, so that when the parts are properly positioned and the nut 22 is tightened, and they will be rigidly clamped in the desired position of adjustment.

While I have shown my invention as embodied in the form which I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not .desire to be ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF- limited in the interpretation of the following claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art. I

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with the bearing member having the cam-flange thereon, of the base-piece having a lo g adapted to cooperate with said flange, and means for clamping the bearing member securely in any desired position of adjustment on the base-piece.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with the bearing member having the bearing portion proper and the positioning portion separated by the cam-flange, of the base-piece having the elongated slot therein through which the adjusting portion of the bearing member passes and the lug thereon with which its cam-flange cooperates, and means for clamping the bearing member in any desired position of adjustment upon the base-piece.

3. In a device of the class describeri,'the combination with the bearing-sleeve ehaving the bearing portion proper and the cam-flange g, and the portion 25, of the base-disk [having the elongated slot m therein and the lug 7t thereon in the plane of the flange g, the clamping member 1", and the bolt n passing through the clamping member, the base-disk and the sleeve and serving with its cooperating nut to securely clamp the parts in any desired position of adjustment.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with the base-piece Z having the elongated slotm therein and the lugkthereon, of. the beal'ing sleeve having the bearing portion and the portion 25 adapted to pass through the slot on, the spiral cam-flange between said portions having the shoulders 71 and j,-the lowermost squared portion 13 of said sleeve, the clamping member 7' having the squared aperture q with which the portion 10 cooperates, and the bolt and nut passing through said parts and serving to clamp them securely in any desired position of adjustment.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. PLOPPER.

Witnesses:

M. R. GoULD, L. M. Foo'rn. 

